A Streetsboro man has pleaded guilty in Portage County Common Pleas Court to a charge that he burglarized an elderly neighbor's residence in August 2011.

Dalton K. Lewis, 22, of 1015 Gaynelle Ave., pleaded guilty to burglary, a second-degree felony, on April 19. Sentencing in Judge Laurie Pittman's courtroom is pending a pre-sentence investigation. He faces two to eight years in prison.

Lewis admitted to burglarizing another residence in the 1000 block of Gaynelle Avenue on Aug. 19, 2011, according to Portage County Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci.

On that day, the victim came home to find Lewis standing in her backyard near the steps of her second-story deck, he said.

Once inside, the victim noticed the lattice door of her deck was open and believed someone had entered her family room. Outside in her backyard, she found her husband's shotguns and ammunition in tall grass near where she had seen Lewis earlier, Vigluicci said.

The victim's husband took the guns and put them away inside. The victim later told Streetsboro police she did not want to call them because she and Lewis' family were good friends, Vigluicci said.

Later, the victim also realized a lock box containing important documents and cash that was stored in her closet was missing, he said, and other items including a checkbook had been moved or were missing. She then called Streetsboro police, Vigluicci said.

Several boxes, checks and the shotguns were submitted to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation for testing. There were no other signs of forced entry in the home, but the victims told police that Lewis' family had a key to their home for emergency purposes.

Lewis was interviewed and denied being inside the house, Vigluicci said. Asked why he was in the victim's backyard, he again denied burglarizing the residence and told police it was "a case of mistaken identity," Vigluicci said.

Fingerprint evidence returned to investigators by BCI later proved Lewis had been inside the home, Vigluicci said.

At the time of his guilty plea, Lewis was serving a five-year probation term based on burglary and attempted felonious assault convictions in August 2012, according to court records. He admitted to committing a burglary in the 700 block of Sapp Road in Ravenna in July 2012, during which he assaulted the resident, and a separate burglary in the 1000 block of Gaynelle Avenue in Streetsboro on June 29, 2012, according to court records.

Lewis also was sent for inpatient substance abuse treatment at the Northeast Ohio Community Alternative Program in Warren as part of that sentence, according to court records, and ordered to pay more than $4,300 restitution to two victims.